Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to promote housebuilding on brownfield land in Stoke-on-Trent.

The National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to prioritise brownfield land for development wherever possible. Local authorities are best placed to assess the potential of individual sites, and each authority is required to publish a register of its developable brownfield suitable for new homes. Nationally, we are providing significant practical support for regeneration, including:

• The £4.5 billion Home Building Fund provides loans for new housing in two ways: the £2 billion long-term fund supports delivery of larger sites, mostly brownfield, through loans for infrastructure and site preparation; the £2.5 billion short-term loan fund (a further £450 million will be made available as announced by the PM in June) supports small and medium enterprises, custom builders and construction innovators to build housing, including some on brownfield.
• A new £100 million brownfield land release fund for local authorities to support new housing delivery.
• Our revision of Permitted Development and Use Class rules to encourage brownfield re-use: for instance, allowing (if well designed) two additional storeys on top of purpose-built blocks of flats; new space on top of houses in certain circumstances; and conversion or replacement of commercial and other buildings to create residential development.
• The Housing Infrastructure Fund, which has allocated nearly £4.1 billion for provision of infrastructure for housing projects, including some on brownfield.
• Land Remediation Relief, which cuts tax for companies cleaning up contaminated land.

The Government has now published its response to the consultation on assessing Local Housing Need and outlined a broader strategy to ensure we build more homes people can afford and to regenerate urban centres. Stoke-on-Trent is among the places where we will increase the indicative Local Housing Need number from the standard method by 35 per cent. We have already provided £10 million of Housing Infrastructure Fund Marginal Viability Funding to transform nine long-vacant brownfield sites in Burslem and Middleport, helping to breathe new life into the city.